Rainbow influences everyone in a beautiful way. It calms the crying soul, it remedies the blemished aura, it nurses the wounded heart and it balms the bruises of any falls. It's those seven colours we seek after the rain, be it in our heart or outside our window pane.
I am gathering all the seven colours here after the rain, with you looking in my window pane. wiz

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

"...pilihler yang mana berkenan" Mak was pointing to the a pile of kain batik inside a plastic bag. They were folded immaculately, untouched by time and smelled so familiar. In an instant I knew they belonged to my arwah Opah who just passed away. "...I love the turqoise one." I said, taking hold of it and trying to find if it still had Opah's scent. Mak said "...sorry the turqoise one is mine, mak dah chup dah yang itu." I rolled my eyes and smiled something mak is very used to seeing ever since I was small, a side effect of having irritating brothers! So, I settled for the purple one instead in the end. Mak also took out some of Opah's long kebaya, beautiful, multi-coloured kebaya which all looked lovely on her. Only Opah could wear them perfectly as she had the prettiest skin tone. She was a fair lady and anything looked good on her.

My sister and I loved watching Opah getting ready to dress up. She would wear her best during kenduri kahwin and hari raya time. She would sit in front of her wardrobe and each time she opened the door, our eyes would light up upon seeing the treasures that she had kept inside. If we were lucky, she would regale some stories about the trinkets she so lovingly kept. The same old stories were told but never once they bored the little life out of us. We were kids who loved to be told again and again. The stories about Tok whom we never got the chance to know, about the mischief of our uncles and aunties but most of all, my favourite story was the ultimate love they both had for one another. Tok was the love of Opah's life, taken away too soon from her, hence the countless memorabilia of Tok's belongings preserved in that small cupboard.
"...ni kain songket CikTan, Opah tempah dulu. Kain songket penuh ni." Opah said proudly as she began her descriptions. "...Yang itu sapa punya?" I reached for the maroon one. "...yang ni mak awak punya ler. Dia pake masa dia berinai dulu. Esok, lusa, nanti awak pulak yang pake. Cuba terai, entah2 dah selok dah." I springed up and put the beautiful maroon kebaya songket on. It fit me nicely and from then on, I remember looking forward to the day I would be clad in the same maroon songket. While I was looking admiringly in the mirror, opah teased me with "...itu dah gate nak kawin le tu!" "...mana ada laaa Opah!" and we both laughed.

Opah was also proud of her kain batik. She kept many of them which were mostly given by her kids, relatives and friends. She arranged them perfectly, nothing was jutting out of place, as if a ruler was used to ensure its neatness. "...cantiknya kain batik Opah...pande nya Opah susun" I was already in my early teens then but kain batik was never my interest. I didn't even know how to tie one on my waist. "...nanti Opah dah takder esok, hangper pake ler. Tapi hangper ni bukannya reti nak ikat kain. Macam mana ler nak kawin nanti, ikat kain pun tak reti!" She grimaced. She then took one out and taught me how to wear it. I complied but only for a few minutes before I ran to the back to join my sister who was in the kitchen munching on something. Where else would my sister be!

And now, after Opah is gone, we are here to share the kain batik she left us so abundantly. Some retained Opah's sweet powdery scent, the same scent that triggered my olfactory when I saw her last."...wanginya Opah ni!" I remember saying that to her all the time when I was small and I also remember saying the same thing in my heart when I kissed her farewell.

Al-Fatihah

Opah in the middle with great grandkids and Makngah during our last reunion organized especially for her.

AlFAtihah to Opah, Wiz. Kain batik sarung is my pakaian traditional in the house,been wearing them like...forever...hehe...Be it kain batik sarung or kain batik sutera, love them both, have a few kebaya pendek and kebaya panjang with kain batik sarung as the kain. but mine, not as neatly folded as your Opah's. :-)So, you did wear that maroon kebaya songket for your wedding? I am sure you look beautiful in it.speaking of kain batik, oh.oh, i have not sent the kain to my tailor, hmmm, alamak tak dak baju raya lagi.....:-(take care,Wiz

hey, takziah to u n family wiz.. Your story reminded me of my opah (paternal) & nenek (maternal). Alhamdulillah, they are still alive and speaking of their 'kain2 batik' , I know both of them have abundance of it. My nenek had given me her baju kebaya songket during her wedding days. It fits me perfectly & the old kain songket is so comfortable.Mase my nikah recently, the kain songket i wore belong to my opah.

Al Fatihah to your Opah...Your cerita makes me want to cry... I never had that 'moment' with my mak Tok, my mom's mom passed away before I was born and my dad's mom passed away when he was only 3.

My mom has quite a collection of her batik too...and I dah chup 3 of them, batik panjang, not to wear but as one of my decor and yes.. you are spot on... its that 'sweet smell' reminding me of my childhood admiring her collection with hope that one day I'll be wearing them too. Like you, I pun tak reti nak pakai kain batik... asyik terlondeh only :P

Nissa- you pun tak tau ikat kain? hehehe sib baik ada kawan. Nicekan to wear something that has been worn by our elders and it would be nice to pass it to your kids nanti. Yes, it is a treasure. Thanks for dropping by.

Aida- Opah and Atok kita will always spoil us when our parents discipline us. So they will be our tempat bermanja most of the time. It was nice having grandparents who told stories and who cooked our favourite dishes. Best sgt. Thanks for dropping by.

Artlover- After receiving our kain batik, my sister and I had dreams about her. ANd she looked smiley and happy. Made us happy. Yes missing our Opah dearly. We will treasure her kain batik apart from the beautiful memories.

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Order a box of 49 muffs for RM45 to wizcakes@gmail.com under the title "Tabung Surau" and RM10 will go to Tabung Surau Ar Raudhah. Or you can directly donate any amount to
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Or you could also donate to this wonderful group of anak2 yatim who is in constant need of financial aid for their education and daily expenses.
Pertubuhan Kebajikan
Anak2 Yatim
Darul Aitam,
Temoh Perak.
Acc Number CIMB : 10000034209
Mudir : Ustaz Shamsul Anuar
Tel :0194271315
Your participation would not only house a congregation of jemaahs for prayers but would also provide the basic necessities for the orphans.
I could only thank you for all your help and pray each thought and each deed you invested would open up to more rezeki for you and would bring you a thousand million step closer to Jannah.
From the bottom of my heart...thank you.
wiz

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